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My best friend and probable soul mate took me to stay in his grandparents caravan last week. As cheesy and lame as that might sound, it was so lovely and relaxing and peaceful. We were right by the beach on a little island , it was ridiculously cute.

We’ve already told you about one of our fave trends (spikes and studs) for the upcoming season, but we think you’re ready for another one: skulls and crosses. And, just so you know, we’re not talking the gigantic skulls or crosses splashed across your person like that one kid you used to hang out with who freaked your mom out. Instead, the skulls and crosses we’re getting excited about include cut-out tees, dainty rings, and seriously bad ass clutches. To show you just how versatile this trend can be, we put together an inspiration gallery of images, some street style, some Instagram, and some editorial (and even one dude), that have made us whip out the plastic and load up our reusable shopping bags with all sorts of goodies.

I have to say, I am incredibly happy about this. The whole trend takes me back to my early teenage years, back when I thought it was cool to dye my hair jet black and wear jeans so skinny they cut off circulation, teamed with some kind of band t-shirt, probably My Chemical Romance knowing me (cringe!). Obviously, I looked like a lanky, moody idiot. Which is why i’m glad I have so much more fashion sense this time around; now I can work the grunge trend while looking approachable and stylish, rather than someone you’d cross the road to avoid laughing loudly in their faces at how awful they look.

So, the big items for this trend are some of my favourite style pieces; checked shirts, dark denim, biker boots and lots of studs! Eyeliner and band or slogan t-shirts are essential, but team them together in a way in which you look good, stylish and chic, rather than moody and miserable. Lovely, comfortable jumpers have been seen in many collections, namely Topshop autumn/winter, which look amazing worn with skinny jeans. The look really emphasises your legs. Add a leather jacket into the equation, preferably accessorised with a horrendous amount of studs, and what you get is one bang on trend look for autumn 2012.

One item which I’m not so keen on seen in the Grunge collections, are creepers. There’s just something about them that I can’t get my head around. On some girls, namely those girls with spaghetti-thin legs, the shoes look great. But on others, they just look a bit silly. They’re clumpy and ugly, and the double sole or even triple sole ones just do not appeal to me at all. Maybe that’s because I don’t have spaghetti-thin legs that they’d look awesome with though. Another thing is the ‘open shoulder’ jumpers and t-shirts. This trend does have the potential to grow on me, so maybe I just need to invest in one.

Today I finished reading the “Fifty Shades” trilogy by E L James. I have to say, I have very mixed reviews about it.

The first book, “Fifty Shades of Grey”, in my honest opinion, was terrible. There was a hint of a background story but nothing more than that, leaving the main story being quite literally sex scene after sex scene…some of which could bring a tear to your eye. The writing itself was fairly poor, words and phrases were repeated very close together and there wasn’t a wide variety of vocabulary. One good point I can make about it is the description of the characters, which was vivid and of great detail. Therefore, a I had a clear image in my mind from the very beginning. I couldn’t warm to Christian Grey in the first book, his character was perceived as cold and bossy, and not a gentleman at all. However, the character of Anastasia Steele was a very easy character to like; she started off as a clumsy, unconfident girl and transformed into a wonderfully headstrong and sensible young women. Overall, I’m not particularly fond of the first book in the trilogy. Although, I can understand why it’s caused such a storm around the world; the main character is a God of a man. It’s a romance novel, but with a huge, huge difference.

The second book, “Fifty Shades Deeper”, was a completely different book to the first one. It had the main story, the story of Ana and Christians ‘relationship’ but as well as that it drama, excitement and suspense. There were unexpected cliffhangers throughout that kept me glued to the book. Questions were answered about Christians mysterious and vivid personality, and his background was explained in some detail. This made me grow to like his character; I understood why he was the was he was, and somehow that made everything far more reasonable. Character’s that were introduced to us in the first book were more involved in the second, characters such as Mrs Lincoln, who I took an instant dislike too. James’s writing seemed to have improved as well, much more varied words were used in passages of text which made the book much more enjoyable to read. In fact, I read the book in a matter of days, it was that gripping and exciting. It was definitely worth reading the first book in order to read this one. Suddenly, this was no longer a soppy, romantic trilogy,; it became much more than that.

The final book in the trilogy, “Fifty Shades Freed”, started off very slowly. It was nowhere near as exciting and anticipating as the second. The writing style of the first few chapters was, although slightly confusing, very very good. We as the readers were filled in on everything that had happened in the time period between the second and third books, but in a way that kept us hooked and interested. However, as the story continued, the excitement grew. Again the book became impossible to put down, I was literally reading hundreds of pages in a single setting. More or less all of our questions were answered and theories proved wrong. I had my heart in my mouth at times, the story was just that good. I felt an overwhelming sadness at times, and physically laughed out loud at others. In this final book, E L James’s writing was at it’s best as she was writing more of a thriller story than a romance novel.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the second and third books in the Fifty Shades trilogy. The first seemed like a bit of a let down after all the media hype there’s been over it. It certainly didn’t live up to some of the reviews it had been given. It is definitely worth reading though, just so that you can read the second and third books, which do actually have stories to them and aren’t just badly written porn.

In three weeks time, I’ll be back in my silly, tiny, almost scruffy halls of residence flat in central London. I literally cannot wait. I can’t wait to see my best friends again after the longest and most dramatic summer. I can’t wait to have kitchen parties again and get stupidly drunk and fall off tables. I can’t wait to spend two hours in Topshop with my friend on the day we get our student loans. I can’t wait to sit outside on the grass and chat about nothing.

I just can’t wait to be back in the hustle and bustle of the capital. It’s all so exciting!